Luis Montalvan with Tuesday, his service dog. Image courtesy of Caitlin Brown.

Combat disabled Iraq war veteran claims two men he believes McDonald’s employees beat him as he prepared to file a complaint against the Sunset Park franchise.

The story begins in 2008, when Luis Montalvan (who is also apparently a journalist) tried to bring his service animal into the fast-food chain on Fifth Avenue. He says he was chased out. Montalvan wrote a letter to the company, and McDonald responded by posting signage welcoming service animals.

When he returned to the McDonald’s, employees again turned him away. He went back to take photographs of the signs to include with a second letter. As he prepared to snap a picture, he says two men he believed worked at the restaurant accosted him and beat him with garbage-can lids. The attack left him with neck injuries, Montalvan says.

See more on Montalvan’s story by NYU journalism student Caitlin Brown here.

Update: This story has gone viral. Check it out on the New York Post, and NY1, which said a veterans group plans to protest outside the McDonald’s Tuesday on Montalvan’s behalf.

According to the account in the Post, the alleged attackers had on McDonald’s uniforms. It’s not clear from the account if the dog in the restaurant or the photographs sparked the beating Montalvan described, if it can even be pinned to something specific.